Jail time for former Premier League star turned match-fixing ‘middleman’

April 30 – Former English Premier League footballer Delroy Facey has been jailed for two and a half years after being convicted of conspiring to bribe non-league players.
Canada 5 Honduras 0
June 17 – Canada over the past six years have forced their way into Concacaf’s elite but have so often flattered to deceive. They are the team everyone quite likes but have never delivered the championship title their talent screams for. Re-adjust everyone.
April 30 – Former English Premier League footballer Delroy Facey has been jailed for two and a half years after being convicted of conspiring to bribe non-league players.
By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
April 30 – There was no standing ovation and no prolonged clapping, rather warm and respectful applause. But that might have been because the FIFA president was preaching to the converted. In his final appearance before regional bodies ahead of next month’s presidential election, Sepp Blatter produced an uncharacteristically low-key address to the 47-nation Asian Football Confederation congress today, in contrast to some of the vibrant language delivered elsewhere on his travels over the past few weeks.
Has there ever been a time when football has been so much in demand, even likely to affect a British general election, yet the people who run the sport are considered so incompetent, if not downright dishonest?
April 30 – CONCACAF is to assign an integrity officer to each of the teams in this July’s Gold Cup, the confederation’s premier national team tournament. The officers will travel and stay with the teams to discourage approaches from match-fixers.
By Matt Scott
April 29 – Gianni Infantino has hit back at accusations in Greece that UEFA has sat idly by while corruption at the heart of the Hellenic Football Federation destroys the game from within.
29 April – FIFA presidential candidate Louis Figo is heading to Bahrain for the Asian Football Confederation Congress, hoping to win votes with his platform promise of increased future World Cup final places for the AFC’s members.
By Paul Nicholson
April 29 – The second leg of the CONCACAF Scotiabank Champions League final kicks off tonight in Montreal in front of a sell out crowd. Last week the first leg of the final between Club America and Montreal Impact ended even at 1-1 in front of an estimated 80,000+ spectators in Mexico City’s iconic Azteca Stadium.
By David Owen
April 29 – Kit-maker Kappa have added Napoli to their stable of Italian Serie A clubs.
By Matt Scott
April 29 – Some of the most senior figures in Greek club football have begged UEFA and FIFA to assist the Syriza government in tackling the institutional corruption that is defiling the Super League.
By Samindra Kunti
April 29 – Dutch club Feyenoord faces an UEFA-imposed fine of €50,000 and playing its next European match behind closed doors after a “racist incident” during this season’s Europa League tie between Feyenoord and AS Roma.
By Mark Baber
April 29 – Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, second and third in the Spanish League and last year’s Champions League finalists, are due to be punished by FIFA for breaches of the FIFA regulations on transfers of minors which were designed to prevent child trafficking, according to reports in the Spanish media.
By Samindra Kunti
April 29 – President of the French Football Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët (pictured), has claimed that EURO 2016 will be “extraordinary”, and that preparations are well advanced.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 29 – A former striker for Atletico Madrid and former Bulgarian coach Lyuboslav Penev (pictured) has taken on the job of head coach at one of the country’s biggest clubs, CSKA Sofia – unpaid. Penev will work without salary for the remaining five games of the season when his contract will expire.
April 29 – Manchester United have released dates for their pre-season tour to the US this summer as well as changes to the opponents they had initially said they will face in the ‘International Champions Cup’.
By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
April 28 – Forty-eight hours before far-reaching elections that could shape the future of Asian football, Qatar’s bid for a place at the top table of FIFA was withdrawn today after its federation vice-president Saud Al Mohannadi pulled out of the running, fuelling the prospect of a powerful alliance between the Continent’s two most influential sports officials.